Crushes That Crush The Heart
by Meroko the Bunny
Summary: Karin Hoshino and Mikan Sakura have just entered Alice Academy. There they meet Natsume, a boy that happens to be from Karin's past, and Ruka, a boy that Mikan quickly warms up to. Soon after, things seem to be going well... But things can change.
1. Goodbye

Ch.1

Goodbye

_Bright lights illuminated my body, heat scorching my arms and leaving marks that I would always carry with me. Flames danced around and surrounded me. Any moment, I knew that I, like my friends and mother, would be engulfed in the blazing mess. It was an accident; how could three five year old girls know what would happen if you played with fireworks, played with fire? My thoughts blurred. Where are you? Why aren't you here...? My tears were cut short as the circle I was in grew smaller, and the fire slowly crept closer. It was too smoky to see. I knew everyone was gone. They were waiting for me. The only thing that kept me chained to this world, unwilling to disappear, were thoughts of a young boy. He was out there, not knowing what was happening to his precious home. I strugged, fought to keep my eyes open, but it was too hard; I was so sleepy. And it was getting harder to breathe. As my golden-colored eyes began to close, his face flashed in my mind once more before I lost consciousness. Natsume..._

Karin's eyes snapped open. Her heart was beating so hard and fast, she feared it would burst from her chest. _That dream again... Why do I keep reliving that?_ With a barely audible sigh, she pushed off warm and soft cotton blankets and stood, running her hand through long, silky raven colored hair. Today would be her first day at Alice Academy. She had learned the details of how the academy was run from her deceased parents, who had gone themselves. Karin knew she had an alice, and she also knew it would end up putting her in a bad situation. The steal and copy alice. With the ability to absorb any alice from users and use it at her command, the school wouldn't allow her to be just a normal student. Luckily, she had brushed against a little girl with the ability to make fluffy white clouds appear. Useless, but Karin had managed to convince her selfish foster parents it was her one and only power. They were disappointed at the worthlessness of it, but still they quickly and greedily accepted the money the 'Alice' school had offered to them, eager to rid themselves of the adopted girl, who was only ten.

Shaking her head, Karin had the same cold, blank look in her eyes she had kept for the past four and a half years. She felt resentment, fury, distrust, and scorn heat up her blood and push out any logical thoughts. The young girl's happy, bubbly personality had been replaced by a cold aloofness, as if she didn't care about anything. She put a wall around herself, never showing any emotion. If someone said something to her, it would bounce off the invisible barrier and land shattered at their feet.

Karin opened the door to the bathroom, closing and locking it behind her. The room was silent, except for the sound of her feet smacking aginst the cold marble floor. A creaking sound and flowing water added to the noise as she turned the knobs to select a warm enough temperature. While the bath filled, Karin slipped out of her pajamas. A silver brushed sparkled in the lights. Reaching down hesitantly, she wrapped her slender fingers around the handle and lifted it to her face, inhaling the scent of cherry blossoms. A moment later, she began to run the brush through her hair, removing any tangles. It took awhile, considing that the the curtain of soft black fell to her waist. By the time she was finished, water had filled the tub to the rim. Karin slipped into the water. Her hair floated out in all directions. Sighing, she reached for the soap, deciding to end the bath quickly.

An hour later, a soaked Karin emerged, wrapping a crimson towel around her body. Leaving wet footprints behind, she re-entered the bedroom. In about ten minutes, she was dried, and dressed in a pleated black skirt, a blood red t-shirt, knee high black socks, and black ankle boots. Her hair was brushed neatly. The man who dared to call himself her father called for her. She resisted the urge to strangle him and headed downstairs. Karin watched with little interest as he threw her suitcase in the car and began ranting and raving about how long she took to get ready. They were soon on their way to the train station, and an hour later Karin found herself put on a train to Tokyo with a small amount of money and a map.

Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried to decide on a place to sit. Finally, she chose a seat next to a sleeping girl who looked about her age. She wore a white skirt much like Karin's, along with a pink top and brown hair pulled into pigtails. Karin watched the girl from the corner of her eyes. They had similar facial features; it rather intrigued her. But it didn't really matter. She would probably never see her again. Her eyelids lowered themselves, and, almost against Karin's will, she fell into a soundless sleep.

A few hours later, the train pulled into it's stop. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, grabbed her bag, and quickly walked out. The girl with the pigtails practically jumped off the train. Her eyes grew big as she glanced around in awe. Ignoring her, Karin took a look at her surroundings, and found her own eyes widening. It was bigger than she imagined. Huge screens with advertisments were placed high up on the sides of buildings. People were randomly scattered around; most were probably tourists. They crowded everywhere; a candy shop full of sweets gathered from across the world, a large fountain in the center of a small park-ish area that was filled with fresh green grass, vending machines strewn about, skyscrapers, and a street performance. Her interest increased as she tried to get closer for a better look. Karin gasped when she saw what it was. A few adults, messing around, throwing fireworks, and catching them. She turned and walked away, holding in all her emotions that threatened to burst and spill everywhere.

The map was easy enough to follow, and she found herself at the school within a couple hours. Suprise was written all over her face when she studied the person outside of the large iron gates. It was the girl from the train. She angrily stomped her foot and demanded to be let in, to see someone named Hotaru or something. The guard shook his head and walked away. The girl sat down, defeated. Obvisously she had yet to notice Karin's presence. Suddenly, two older boys jumped out of a van. Karin didn't really bother to listen, until the girl started to leave. However, she didn't even have time to utter a syllable, much less a warning, before a man showed up. At least, she thought he was a man. An earring, long blonde hair, a loose white shirt, and a male voice just added to the confusion. He didn't notice Karin either. The man quickly inserted himself into the conversation, somehow convincing the boys to leave. Then he turned to the girl. A few minutes of talking went on between them, before Karin finally took a step forward.

"Excuse me..."


	2. Alice

Ch.2

Alice

"But I have to see Hotaru," she finished.

"Well I think I can get you in," said a tall blonde man. He smiled. _Narumi-sensei, right?_

"Really?? That's so wond- Eh?" Mikan blinked in suprise, looking at the girl who had just spoken. How long had she been standing there? Who was she? Would she be friends with Mikan?

"I believe I'm a student here," she continued, handing Narumi some papers. Mikan waved and smiled. The girl returned the wave, but the same look of indifference and slight frown remained on her face. Narumi looked over the papers.

"Karin-chan, ne?" He smiled kindly and extended his hand in greeting.

The girl, Karin, started to reach out, but before she could shake his hand a loud explosion blasted the wall. Some of the debris hit Mikan. "Ow.." She looked up. A boy with raven colored hair stood at the top of the wall, next to a hole. He wore a cat mask. "Black...cat?"

Narumi turned and smiled. "This is one of the students here. His alice is fire and he is considered a genius," he said, looking back at the boy, "Natsume Hyuuga."

Mikan didn't quite get it - she had always been dense - but she still stood there watching as Narumi took care of the boy. Confused, she glanced at Karin, which only added to her confusion. The dark haired beauty's face was stark white, and a look of disbelief and fear covered it. A loud whap sound echoed and Mikan turned around. "N-Narumi-sensei!!" He had hit the boy with a whip!! She ran forward, kneeling beside Natsume. "Ne, are you okay??"

Narumi bent down and kissed his forehead. Mikan could only watch as little hearts and sparkles floated around in the air and Natsume fainted. "S-S-SENSEI!!" I-Is he some kind of... child MOLESTOR?!? The teacher threw him over his shoulder and signaled for the guards to open the gates.

"Coming girls?"

"Yes." Mikan looked at Karin again. She had regained her previous composure, as if nothing suprising or odd had happened.

"Y-Yes," Mikan answered as well.

With that, they followed Narumi into a large building. He placed Natsume on the couch and smiled at the girls. "Well, I have to report everything that happened, so please sit here for now. And if he should wake up before I get back... Just push that button over there," he said, pointing at a red button on the wall. Then he left.

Mikan grinned at Karin. "I never introduced myself. I'm Mikan Sakura. Nice to meet you!!" She could have sworn that she saw a faint glimmer of suprise in Karin's eyes, but it had disappeared replaced with... Nothing. No emotion.

Karin's mouth twitched. It was the closest thing to a smile she could manage at that moment. "My name is Karin, Karin Hoshino. Nice to meet you..."

Mikan thought for a moment. Then she walked over and pinched the sleeping boy's nose. He didn't stir. "Well, he's asleep.." She sat down and motioned for Karin to sit next to her. When she did, Mikan pulled out a photo album and displayed a picture of her friend. "Hotaru..." Near tears again, she leaned forward to kiss Hotaru's face, only to be pulled back. She heard a gasp, then a thump, and found herself looking directly into Natsume Hyuuga's eyes.


	3. Author's Note

Quick Author's Note!!

In case anyone was wondering, in this story I switch off chapters from Karin's perspective to Mikan's perspective.

For example:

1. A sighed as she looked down, small crystal droplets gathering on her eyelashes and soaking her body. Of course, he would reject her. She was too simple, too plain.

2. B silently stalked away. If only she could see, why he had to refuse her. How he longed to hold her, say the three little words that were stuck in his heart. A was beautiful, like a rare gem, that held a blinding glow.

It's simple showing the way they see things and feel, without going to a 1st pov.

Anyway, on with the story!!


	4. Memories

Ch.3

Memories

She watched as if it had all been in slow motion. He woke up, reached forward, and grabbed Mikan's hair. Karin was pushed off the couch and landed hard on the wooden floor. "Ow," she whispered. From her position, she could see his eyes. They blazed with anger as he talked.

"You have five seconds to tell me who you are or I'll burn this precious hair of yours!!" Karin squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as realization dawned on her. She had been wrong earlier; this couldn't be the boy she remembered, with his kind smile and warm eyes. The name, the face, the alice... It must all be a coincidence. This wasn't him, not the boy she had loved. Mikan's baby-like crying and pleas for help snapped Karin out of her trance.

"Let me goooooo...WAH!!! Stop it!! Let gooo!!!"

"Quiet you baby! Tell me who you are!!"

Suddenly, a blonde boy crashed through the window. He stood up and brushed the glass off, opening pretty blue eyes. "Oww."

"Ruka, you're late," Natsume scolded.

"And who's fault is that?" He looked around the room, his eyes stopping on Mikan. Natsume was on top of her, pinning her down. "Who is she?"

"Heeeelp meeee!!" Mikan cried, struggling to get out of his grasp.

"When I woke up she was in here."

"And the other one..?"

Natsume looked to his left, seeming to just notice Karin. His eyes narrowed in confusion. "Who are you two?" he demanded.

Karin glared defiantly at him. Now she knew for sure it wasn't the boy. "Why should I tell someone like you, teme?" she scoffed, narrowing her own eyes.

"You're going to regret that..." Nastume lifted a hand and allowed a small flame to appear there. "Maybe I'll add some more," he replied, referring to the ugly burns and scars that marred her smooth, tan arms.

The door burst open. Narumi ran in. "What's going on here?!" Ruka and Natsume jumped out the window. "Hey!" With a heavy sigh, he faced the girls. "Congratulations. I look forward to your company here at Alice. The class reps will be here shortly," he handed Mikan and Karin two identical unforms, "so put these on." There was a large grin on his face as the girls smiled and thanked him.

Karin quickly got dressed. She enjoyed the style and colors of the outfit. Red and black were her favorite, and the boots were very comfortable. Taking a deep breath, she replaced the red ribbons it her hair she had taken out, one on each side. Mikan had finished dressing as well. She looked into the mirror, smiling and at the same time near tears.

"I can finally see Hotaru!!"

The knob slowly turned. Two children appeared. One was a boy with blonde hair and glasses. He smiled shyly. The other one was an intelligent looking girl with short, dark purple hair and matching eyes. Mikan stood there, gaping at the girl. She looked back, seemingly without much interest.

They all boarded a bus.

When the bus they had taken pulled up to the front of the elementary school, Mikan finally burst.

"HOTARU!!"

Karin tilted her head, thinking. She snapped her fingers. _That's right! The girl from the pictures. _Looking up, she examined the girl once more. _So this is the person Mikan has been going on and on about. Interesting_...


	5. School

Ch.4

School

"Hotaru..." Mikan ran towards the purple-haired girl, tears gathering in her eyes.

In everyone's heads:

Mikan: _Hotaru, My Hotaru!!_

Hotaru: _Why is Mikan here?_

Karin: _... sweat drop_

Mikan: _Hotaru, Hotaru, Hotaru!!!_

Hotaru: _How did she get here?_

Mikan jumped forward, ready to embrace her friend.

BAM!!!

"Ouch... Hotaru!!" she cried, a small whine entering her voice.

A smiled tugged at the corner of Karin's mouth, but she refused to let it show. Hotaru had hit Mikan with some weird invention.

"Baka. Don't come near me, nose-drip girl."

"Well then, shall we get to class?" Narumi led the way inside, swinging his arms as he walked. "This will be your class from now on. Make sure to become good friends with everyone in class." He nodded towards the blonde boy, who had yet to speak. "This is Tobita Yuu. He's the class president. Adieu, everyone. " With another charming smile, he walked off.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Tobita Yuu, but you can just call me Iinchou," the boy with glasses said shyly.

"I'm Mikan Sakura," replied Mikan with a large smile. _He seems nice_.

"Karin Hoshino..."

"Sakura-san, Hoshino-san, please come this way." Iinchou led the small group inside.

Mikan stared, her eyes wide as she took in the scenery. Kids ran around wildly. A boy floated in midair, while another drew on the air. A girl mixed chemicals. Clusters of students were scattered about, talking to each other in loud voices. Dark clouds hung above the class.

_What is this place? Are there no rules?!_

"C-Class? Your a-attention please? These are two new fr-friends for y-you, Sakura-san, and Hoshino-san..." A tall man with a ponytail and glasses said so softly, Mikan was amazed to find the class had heard.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Mikan Sakura." She smiled. Karin simply nodded.

The class immediantly took a defiant tone, shouting out protests. "What's that? Saying she's our new friend??" They threw stuff at the front of the room.

"P-Please take those two empty seats at the back of the classroom."

Mikan and Karin made their way towards the back. Mikan looked nervously at all of the faces. _I-I'm not sure I can be friends with them... _When they finally reached the back, she sat down first, and ended up between Karin and a boy with manga covering his face.

"I look forward to sitting next to you," she said with a small smile. The book fell from his face. "Eh?" Mikan stood up, so suddeny that the rest of the class turned to face her. "IT'S THE MOLESTOR BOY!!!" she shouted, remembering how he had been on top of her.

"A molestor is someone who has sleezy intentions. Who would want to have sleezy intentions with someone as ugly as you?" he scoffed, a cold glare seeping into his eyes.

"H-HOW DARE YOU?!" She took a step towards him, only to be lifted into the air. "Eh?"

"Who do you think you are, talking to Natsume-sama like that? You have no right." A girl with curly green seaweed hair stepped forward.

A boy with a shaved head glared at her, his hand in the air.

_I-I'm being... LIFTED IN THE AIR BY HIM?!?_

"Do you even have an alice?"

"Why don't you get out of this with your alice?"

"Hehehe..."

Mikan looked at all the faces in the class, laughing at her, taunting her. _Hotaru... _The girl turned away to read. _... I wonder if I have an alice? Narumi sensei told me I do..._

"I wonder if I have an alice? Narumi sensei told me I do..."

_But it doesn't feel like it... I wonder if I really do..._

"But it doesn't feel like it... I wonder if I really do..."

_Eh? That boy..._

"Eh? That boy..."

_Is reading..._

"Is reading..."

_My mind!!!_

"My mind!!!"

An absolutely ADORABLE boy with brown hair and a big grin had stepped forward, and was spouting out Mikan's inner thoughts as if there was no tomorrow.

"I see, so that's it," laughed the green-haired girl, "she doesn't have an alice. Ohohoho, how pathetic."

"That's enough." Karin stood up, glaring daggers at the girl.


	6. Partners

Ch.5

Partners

Karin stared at everyone, anger bubbling over and dulling her once bright eyes. "That's enough." She wasn't just going to stand there, watching as Mikan was teased and bullied. If only she could use one of the other, more dangerous alices she had gathered over the years. But... It was too dangerous. For her.

"Hmph! You're named Hoshino? Well, Hoshino, unless you want to be the one in the air. Why don't you just be a good little girl and sit ba-" Suddenly, seaweed girl stopped talking. She had gotten a look at Natsume's face. He was glaring at her, a look that said ' shut the hell up **now** '. He then turned to Karin.

"What's your name?" he asked, a tiny note of suprise hidden behing the usual cold exterior.

Karin returned the glare, locking the pain it caused her to see his face deep in her heart. "Karin... Hoshino."

His eyes widened for a second before narrowing, so fast that Karin wasn't sure if she had seen anything at all.

"Errr... Can someone get me down from here?" Mikan's voice broke the tension.

Natsume snapped his fingers and she dropped, landing with a loud thump. In Ruka's lap.

"Eh?" The blonde boy blushed furiously, and Mikan quickly apologized before jumping off.

"Natsume's kind points are what makes him so attractive and melts my heart!!" cried Permy.

"I must agree with the club president!" exclaimed another girl that stood next to her.

Mikan growled at them.

Natsume glanced out the window at the woods. "You... will go through the Northern forest to prove you have an alice. Do it, or the class won't accept you." He smirked, looking directly at Karin. "As for you... I want you to - " Nastume was cut off as the door creaked open, and Narumi walked in.

"Narumi-sensei," Mikan cried.

"Yes yes." He smiled. "I forgot to assign your partners. Here at Alice, partners share a room, and are paired up for nearly everything. Mikan-chan, you will be paired with Nogi-kun. Hoshino-san, you are with Natsume-kun. After classes they will show you to your rooms." With another smile and a wave, he left.

Mikan felt her face heat up, and it seemed that Ruka was blushing again too.

"Tch. Whatever," Karin and Natsume said at the same time. They glared at each other for several minutes, until the bell rang.

"Your tests will be tomorrow," he said, not noticing he had yet to tell Karin hers, or, more likely, just not caring.

"S-Sakura-san, my - I mean, our - room is this way," muttered Ruka before leading her out of the room.

Natsume left without a word, and Karin followed. They walked in silence and she couldn't help glancing at him. He was so... familiar...

When they finally reached the room, she realized, to her horror, that there were two beds, one black, and one...

"..."

"The black bed is **mine**."

"..."

"Unless you want to sleep outside."

"..."

"It's time for dinner." He walked out, towards their dorm's diner area.

"..." Karin stared, no emotion showing. Then disbelief, shock, and anger exploded on her face. "It.. it... It's **PINK**!!!!!" After a few minutes of heavy breathing, she calmly composed herself, and headed towards where they were serving dinner.


	7. Friends

Ch.6

Friends

Mikan followed Ruka down an empty hallway and outside. There were dozens of flowers surrounding them, and she stopped to pluck a pink carnation from the ground. Smiling, she quickened her steps a little to catch up with the boy.

"Ne, Ruka-pyon, don't you think this is pretty?" she asked, proudly handing the flower to him.

"It's okay..." He turned away, refusing to take the flower, and keeping a Natsume-like look on his face.

Sighing, Mikan continued with him until they reached another building. After what seemed like an hour of wandering aimlessly throughout the hallways, she turned to Ruka. "Do you know where you're going...?"

"...Well, you see...I uh..." With a heavy sigh, he slowly shook his head. "It's room 18, but I can't seem to find it..."

Mikan pointed behind him. "Isn't that it?" _Did he really not notice that_?

"Eh?" Ruka turned around in shock to see a door with a large '18' on it. His bangs covered his embarrassment as he unlocked the door and led Mikan in.

"Wow!!" she exclaimed, looking around the room in awe. "Amazing!" It was much larger than her room had been, and had a desk, carpet, a balcony, huge windows, a big bed... _Huh? ... One bed...? _Turning to Ruka, she stared at him with her usual ' I'm stupid what's going on? ' look.

"It will be about a week until another bed gets here, so until then..." He refused to look at her; his face was a darker shade of red than it had ever been in his life. "Anyway, we should go to the dining room for dinner..." Ruka quickly walked towards the door.

Mikan smiled and followed him, glad to finally be at Alice. Honestly, she couldn't see the problem with sharing a bed, since every now and then, she would sleep with her grandpa. When they finally reached the dining area, Mikan once again looked around with an amazed and suprised look on her face.

"I.. suppose that," Ruka coughed, "since we're partners... we should sit next to each other."

Mikan nodded happily, and followed him to a table. Ruka sat next to a raven haired boy with crimson eyes, and Mikan sat next to him.

"Ne, Natsume? Where's that other girl?" he asked, pointing to the empty spot next to Natsume.

"Tch. Like I care."

"But she's your partner!!" cried Mikan in suprise.

Karin slowly walked in. Instead of sitting next to Natsume, she chose the seat by Mikan. "Hello, Mikan..."

Mikan took this as a sign that she could also call Karin by her first name. "Hi Karin!" She smiled brightly. Karin's mouth twitched again.

Mikan stared at the food they put down. Salads, steak, carrots, cake, potatoes, brownies, fish, strawberries, rice, soushi, ramen... And lots of other choices. Ruka looked at her, almost smiling.

"You're drooling..." Mikan looked at him with wide eyes, and, embarrassed, rubbed away the saliva that had dripped from her mouth.

Ruka had rice, fish, and a fruit tart.

Natsume chose steak, fish, chicken, and rice.

Mikan grabbed pretty much everything.

Karin had rice and strawberries.

Mikan was amazed at Karin's choice and asked her about it.

"He ruined my appetite," she replied, glaring directly at Nastume. He glared back, and it seemed like darts of lighting went between them. Ruka and Mikan sweat-dropped.

"Attention, attention. Dinner time is over. Report to your rooms immediantly..." called a mechanic voice after everyone had eaten.

Ruka and Mikan left. The other two walked out more slowly.


End file.
